Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Staten Island Leads City In Painkiller Prescriptions
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Aug 22, 2010
Modified Aug 22, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Aug 22, 2010
Modified Aug 22, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
According to Department of Health prescription data, doctors wrote one prescription for the painkiller oxycodone for every four or five Staten Islanders last year. Many of the 115,000 prescriptions are refills, but they make Richmond county the second highest for painkiller prescriptions in the state. Luke Nasta, the executive director of Camelot Counseling Services, told the Staten Island Advance, "It's startling. Even to me, the number's startling. I think the vast majority of that is being used for recreational use and to feed addictions."
When factoring in prescriptions for other drugs, about one in three of the prescriptions written for the borough last year were for painkillers. And multiple pharmacy robberies and scams have shown that people are getting the drugs without a doctor's orders. Michael Zampella, a clinical social worker, said, "We're a vulnerable community with a propensity to addiction...Adolescents connect with other adolescents through the substance abuse culture."
Doctors are on alert, and have begun screening new patients before writing prescriptions. One doctor said he gets about 10 illegitimate requests for every patient who really needs the drug. But Steve Pasierb, president of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, says, "What everyone in our research tells us is, 'If I need them, I know where to find them. It's in society. It's not on the edge of society. It's not, you've got to go on the bad neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks to find the dealer." Staten Island has about 23.3 prescriptions of oxycodone per 100 people, the most out of all the boroughs. But Manhattanites will at least sleep easy with the news—they lead the city in prescriptions for zolpidem, the generic name for Ambien.
Tagged
drugs
oxycodone
painkillers
prescription
staten island
Jaya Saxena
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .